Bibby Lets Players Do the Talking

A day after its most phlegmatic Pacific 10 Conference showing of the season, USC was forced out of the Sports Arena for practice on Friday as the building was being used by the INS for a mass swearing-in of new citizens.

Given the Trojans’ lack of hustle and heart in their 83-74 loss to Oregon State, a team USC should have run out of the gym, you couldn’t have blamed Coach Henry Bibby had he skipped the workout and gone down to the arena in search of some new players.

Instead, he turned the floor over to the Trojans during a 30-minute meeting before practice and let them vent their frustrations.

“It was different because [Bibby] gave the players a chance to talk,” senior point guard Robert Hutchinson said. “Usually he doesn’t do that and is usually more demanding by telling us what he wants us to do and that’s how it’s going to be.

“That’s what the meeting was about, to get everything out in the open, try to figure out a solution to the problem -- why we don’t get up to play, why some games we play hard, some games we don’t. I think today we just took the attitude that that’s behind us and we’ve got to look forward because we’ve got a big game Sunday [against No. 22 Oregon].”

According to Hutchinson, sophomore guard Errick Craven and junior guard Roy Smiley addressed the Trojans, who have lost three in a row and five of six.

“We’ve just got to stay together and not point fingers at anybody because when we’re losing like this, there’s a tendency for [finger-pointing between] the staff and the players,” Craven said, hinting that the players were tiring of what they perceived as unwarranted criticisms. “You could tell that everybody was a little frustrated.”

And for good reason, what with the Trojans’ sitting at 7-9 overall, 3-5 in conference play. If the league tournament began today, USC would be seeded No. 7 among eight qualifiers.

“The season is winding down and that’s scary because where we’re heading, we might not make the Pac-10 tournament,” Hutchinson said. “It’s definitely shocking. My first two years here were automatic, at-large [NCAA tournament] bids. Now we’ve got to fight even to get into the [conference] tournament.”

*

Junior Jerry Dupree (right foot) had a limited practice Friday and sophomore Nick Curtis (right heel and left ankle) sat out. Dupree started in Curtis’ place Thursday night at power forward. Both are questionable for the game against Oregon.